


Worship

by Teradoration (Dragonsploosh)



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 06:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18440504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsploosh/pseuds/Teradoration
Summary: An ancient deity is rediscovered





	Worship

A monster that lurks deep within an abandoned temple. Many years ago, this was a place of grandeur where the monster was worshipped, but now the walls are crumbling, and the altar that was once overflowing with offerings is empty.

The monster waits for the day that its worshippers will return, but that day never comes. There is only you – tentatively stepping through the rubble, seeking the myth that you’ve read about. You reach the altar and kneel before it, listening intently. That’s when you hear a voice behind you, a gravelly voice that sounds like it hasn’t been used in hundreds of years.

_“You’ve… come to worship?”_

The longing in those words is unmistakable.

“Yes,” you say, and something huge moves behind you, footsteps dragging across the dusty ground.

You look up as it comes into view; four long arms hug awkwardly around its middle, and a gaunt face peers down at you with round, sunken eyes. Its teeth look far too big for its mouth, and at first you think it might be snarling at you, but then you realise it’s smiling.

“ _Truly_?” It says in excitement. “ _You wish to be in my favour?_ ”

“I wish only to serve you,” you recite, your words memorised from the ancient texts. “I acknowledge you as my god, my lord, the only deity that I –“

“ _Yes, you worship!_ ” It exclaims, practically beside itself with joy. One of those arms shoots out and it hauls you to your feet, leading you briskly across the room. “ _Okay, I show you,_   _look at this, this is where I sit_ ,” it says happily, pointing at a half-rotten throne. “ _It was gifted to me by the emperor, it still has his name there, do you see?”_

You nod at the barely legible hieroglyphs, and the monster continues.

“ _And this room, this is where I keep my treasures, this room here, this is the best_  room –“

It goes off on a bit of a tangent, telling you all about the time it saved the town from an outbreak of smallpox. It’s been so starved for conversation all these years that it seems only too happy to tell you its entire life story, reliving its glory days and looking more delighted by the second.

You don’t mind. This is exactly what you’re here for, to get to know the beautiful deity of years past. You’re just glad that you could make it so happy - it might have had thousands of followers all those years ago, but right now, it seems like one is enough.


End file.
